Rooney crashes Villa graduation day

Aston Villa's Class of 2002 became the 50th winners of the FA Youth Cup yesterday, following a 4-2 aggregate victory over Everton. It was the club's first success in the competition since Mark Walters' 1980 side.

The final allowed some promising young stars to show off their talent. One thing is for sure, England should have few problems in attack, or indeed on the left flank, come the 2010 World Cup in Africa. The Villa strike-force of the two brothers Stefan and Luke Moore has real potential, while the left-midfielder, Steven Foley, has shown that Englishmen can thrive in the supposed "trouble position".

Considering that they had a mountain to climb after the first leg, which they lost 4-1 at Goodison Park, Everton acquitted themselves well. They might even have made the second leg that much more interesting had Alan Moogan managed to round off his seventh-minute run with a shot on, rather than off, target.

In the event, they did win the day, if not not the tie, as Scott Brown dispossessed the otherwise solid Liam Ridge-well to score the winner on 75 minutes. Too little too late, but the Toffees will take heart from several of the performances, most notably that of Wayne Rooney.

Colin Harvey, the Everton manager not renowned for his enthusiasm, is said to be genuinely excited about the 16-year-old's prospects. Rooney sat on the bench for the last two League games of Everton's senior campaign, and the feeling is that he will be blooded next season. Then, who knows? He is a strong, quick and intelligent forward, who mixes his runs and shots with frightening maturity, but that is no guarantee of success – for every Michael Owen, along comes a Francis Jeffers, another product of the Everton Academy.

Another positive about Rooney is that he has fire in his belly. He battled hard all afternoon, and never gave in until the final whistle had gone. His 33rd-minute left-foot shot required an exceptional reflex save from the excellent Villa goalkeeper, Wayne Henderson, to keep the scores level at half-time. Rooney was man of the match yesterday; is he now the man for Everton's future? "Wayne's got a special talent," Harvey said. "People have tried to label him, but he's unique."

The big question on days like these is how many of the players will go on to have fruitful careers. "Everyone dreams of being the next Paul Gascoigne or David Beckham," said Tony McAndrew, one half of the Villa management duo with Gordon Cowans, "but a more realistic aim is to make a living from the game. I hope that three or four will maybe become established Premiership players."

Aston Villa 0 Everton 1 Brown 75

Half-time 0-0 Attendance: 18,117